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Microsoft sets deadline for Yahoo! deal
Inflation may moderate in two weeks, says PM
REL in race for Mumbai monorail project
Lohia group forays into electric vehicles
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Tax Advice
Market Update
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Microsoft sets deadline for Yahoo! deal
Silicon Valley, April 6 In a letter to the Yahoo! board of directors, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said by choosing not to enter into substantive negotiations with us, you have failed to give due consideration to a transaction that has tremendous benefits for Yahoo!'s shareholders and employees. "If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo! board," he said. Meanwhile, a source said Yahoo's board is expected to discuss Ballmer's letter next week, as well as provide a briefing on how talks between the two firms went last week. "The substantial premium reflected in our initial proposal anticipated a friendly transaction with you. If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal." In addition, Microsoft also threatened to lower its existing bid if the deal is not done by April 26. "If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal," wrote Ballmer. Microsoft had offered an unsolicited buyout bid of $31 per share for Yahoo! on February 1. The Internet giant rejected Microsoft's initial offer saying that it was too low and undervalued the company. — PTI
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Inflation may moderate in two weeks, says PM
New Delhi, April 6 Attributing the inflation to rise in prices of certain commodities internationally, Singh said the government has already taken steps to check the upward trend of prices. "We are all concerned. The Cabinet Committee on Prices met and took certain decisions. Whatever more can be done, will be done," he told reporters at the Rashtrapati Bhawan after the swearing-in of new ministers. Asked about the time-frame by which the inflation was expected to moderate, the Prime Minister said "there is no time-frame, I can honestly say. In a couple of weeks it is expected (to moderate)." Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was also present, said the government was seized of the matter relating to inflation and was taking steps to contain it. The Prime Minister said there were "difficulties" as prices of foodgrains and petroleum products worldwide were going up." He, however, pointed out that the government had not allowed rise in prices of items being sold through the Public Distribution System (PDS) to those Below Poverty Line and Above Poverty Line. — PTI
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REL in race for Mumbai monorail project
Mumbai, April 6 According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which is evaluating the bids for the monorail project, a consortium comprising REL and Japan's Hitachi, L&T along with Malaysia's Scomi and Bombardier Transportation, are the three bidders shortlisted for the financial bidding of the project. The monorail project is expected to cost Rs 1,500 crore. According to MMRDA chief Ratnakar Gaikwad, work on the monorail project will begin in July. The monorail will branch out through areas that are not connected to the existing suburban railway network. While the first metro route will be thrown open by end-2009, the monorail service will begin operations a few months later, say officials. |
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Lohia group forays into electric vehicles
Chandigarh, April 6 Talking to mediapersons here, Vinay Gupta, president of Lohia Auto Industries, said they had already set up a plant at Kashipur in Uttarakhand, with an annual capacity of 300,000 units. “We will be launching the bikes and three- wheelers in a phased manner. These would be first launched in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh , Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Delhi. In the first year of operations, we propose to sell 10,000 units,” he added. “These three-wheelers will be sold for Rs 40,000, while the diesel and petrol variants will cost over Rs 1 lakh. We will be manufacturing 75,000 units of three-wheelers and 2.25 lakh units of two-wheelers, ” he said. |
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Tax Advice Q. I give below my income figures and detail of exemptions admissible for advising my tax liability /refund due thereon. Please also clarify on the under noted issues: Pension income Rs. 1,18,991.20 Less exemptions 1,38,356.00 Rebate u/s 80C
LIC Policy 9,554.00 Rebate u/s 80CCC 50,000.00 Please clarify whether bonus payable on P.O. M.I.S. @ 10% of deposit (Rs 5,40,000/-) which comes to Rs 54000 is to be taken (accrued) into account when actually paid. May I take into account, bonus on yearly basis from now as I have not so far taken into account for last two years i.e. financial year 2005-06 & 2006-07 as the same did not occur to me. The accounts were opened on March 29, 2005 (maturity being 6 years). Please also clarify whether PO SCSS is covered under 80C. If yes, whether fresh deposit can be made in the same or new account will have to be opened. I had opened the same with Rs 4,00,000. The maturity period is 5 years same as 5 years STD covered u/s 80C. Please elaborate the senior citizen scheme referred by you in the Tribune dated 21st January, 2008. — Sudarshan K. Jain, Ludhiana A.
The answer to your queries given hereunder is on the presumption that you are a senior citizen. (i) Your total income being less than Rs 1,95,000 being the maximum amount up to which tax is not chargeable in case of a senior citizen, as applicable for assessment year 2008-09, no tax is payable by you. However, as per the provisions of Section 139 of the Act, you are required to file the income-tax return by 31st July, 2008 because your total income becomes below taxable limit on account of the deductions allowable under Section 80C and 80U of the Act. (ii) The amount of bonus receivable on P.O.M.S. is taxable. You will have to adopt the same method of disclosing such bonus as you are following for tendering interest income on P.O.M.S for tax purposes. If the method followed is accrual, then the same method will have to be followed for bonus. If you are following the receipt method you should follow the receipt method. (iii) The deposit under senior citizen saving scheme is covered for the purposes of benefit under Section 80C of the Act for assessment Year-2008-09. It would be better to open a separate account so that the exemption can be claimed without any problem. (iv) The scheme has 14 clauses relating to various aspects thereof apart from the proformas for relevant forms. It is therefore not possible to elaborate the provisions of the scheme due to space constraints. You can, however, seek elaboration on any specific issue which can be replied in these columns. Section 80C
Q. Please intimate the section of the tax under which these last payments of the Group Insurance Scheme-1987 for Haryana Employees and Postal Life Insurance of the Postal Deptt. (India) are exempted by the Income Tax Deptt.(India). — Kahan Chand Sharma A.
Section 80C of the Act provides that any sum paid or deposited in the previous year by the assessee to effect or keep in force an insurance on the life of the individual himself, his wife or any child of such individual would be deductible against the total income subject however to a sum not exceeding Rs 1 lakh. In case the payments under these schemes have been made for the aforesaid purposes, the deduction should be allowable to you against your total income under section 80C of the Act. |
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Market Update It was a bad start to a new financial year as inflation-related worries had the market in tailspin and Sensex lost 6.3 per cent and Nifty was down by 6 per cent last week. The market was also jittery after the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) asked companies to disclose losses on a mark-to-market basis incurred on derivative trades from the current financial year onwards (year ending March 2008), as a precursor to making a new accounting standard — the AS-30 — mandatory from April 1, 2011. Indian companies are sitting on potential losses on account of the forex derivative transactions they undertook last year. A steep decline in the value of the US dollar against the Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc has hit Indian corporates which have used these two currencies (Yen and Franc) extensively to swap their rupee denominated debt. With results season on the activity may shift to being stock specific. Yes bank, kick starts the results season with the results on Wednesday (April 9). Markets will be closely tracking what guidance is given for the financial year 2009 by the companies managements. Foreign inflows will also dictate the trend. Banking sector
Banks, brokerages and other financials the world over have been hammered by the markets owing to the continuous flow of negative news emanating from the sub-prime crisis of the USA. Banks across the world have been hit the worst, as concerns over their asset qualify coupled with fears of slowdown in their business growth got magnified with each passing day. Indian banks, too, faced their share of correction, in spite of not being directly linked to the ills of the US sub-prime meltdown and the following credit squeeze. Having said that Indian banks are not directly exposed to the US sub-prime woes, there are indirect implications, especially for private banks. In addition, domestic factors such as moderation in the gross domestic product (GDP) growth and industrial production and increasing likelihood of hardening in interest rates have only added to the growth worries of the banks. These factors led the market to lower lofty valuations assigned to banks. Though, the earning of the banks will take a hit in the short term, but we are of the view that over longer term the banks earning remain intact and the current steep slide in banks valuation has more to do with bad sentiment than fundamentals. Going by what once the great generals said, “and this too shall pass”, investors may start nibbling on fundamentally strong banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and YES bank with a perspective of couple of years. |
Nicholas eyes 35% growth Lanco to pump in 18,000 cr
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